


A Thing Most Coveted

by tothebatcave53



Series: What it feels like to be Loved [3]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Angst, Badass Yuuri, Death Threats, Dragon Katsuki Yuuri, Dragon Yuuri, Fights, Guilt, Hurt Victor, Hurt Yuuri, Kidnapping, M/M, Mentions of Blood, Protective Victor, Protective Yuuri, Victor is very in love, Victor puts himself in danger, Wounded, Yuuri is a badass dragon, original character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-10
Updated: 2017-05-10
Packaged: 2018-10-30 06:20:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10870896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tothebatcave53/pseuds/tothebatcave53
Summary: Victor is used to being the object of people's affection but being Yuuri's treasure makes that so much more intense, so much more terrifying when Yuuri is kidnapped because someone, or something, wants Victor all for itself.





	A Thing Most Coveted

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to childofhebe for reading through this, correcting it and giving me the encouragement needed to actually force myself to finish. I am so glad we started talking <3

Victor loves the feeling of early morning runs; the streets are clear and the air is fresh with the start of a new day. Makkachin is free to chase the seagulls to her heart’s content without Victor having to worry about someone colliding with her. There isn’t anyone around to stop him for photos or autographs; Victor can just be himself.

Something which he hasn’t ever really allowed himself to be before Yuuri came into his life.

The only thing that could make early morning runs better would be if Yuuri came on them as well but as Victor had discovered after Yuuri first moved in, Yuuri was not a morning person and a sleepy dragon was a deadly dragon. Victor had nearly lost some fingers to frostbite the first time he tried to drag the dragon out from under the blankets.

Thankfully coming home to Yuuri is almost as nice as running with him would be. Most mornings when Victor returns home he’s able to crawl back into bed and curl against whichever form Yuuri’s slept in. More often than not this now means Victor comes home to a stretched out black mess of scales and frosted pillows. It’s endearing, how much Yuuri finally trusts him. That knowledge alone means more to Victor than anything else in the world ever could.

“Maybe we should pick him up breakfast. What do you think Makka?”

Makkachin clearly agrees, drooling in front of the open bakery doorway that they’re passing in front of. Victor picks up a few different types of sweets, the breads still warm from the oven. It’s fine if they have a cheat day; they both did plenty of exercising just last night.

Bag of baked goods in one hand and a coffee carrier in the other, Victor turns them back toward home only slightly later than they normally return. Hopefully that means Yuuri is awake and sunning himself in front of the large windows.

While they had been up north at Victor’s tiny cabin in the woods he’d had his apartment and the one below torn apart and rebuilt into one large penthouse for them to live in. Living with Yuuri was like a dream come true, as cliche as that was to say, but Victor had also learned a thing or two about his fiance and what it really meant to live with a dragon.

The renovation had been a must. Victor had always afforded himself the luxury of a large space for himself and Makkachin to live in, being a five time world champion definitely came with its perks, but with Yuuri there the space suddenly felt very cramped. Whenever Yuuri had moved around as a dragon tight corners and hallways had become too cramped, furniture and decorative glass vases had become acquainted with the floor and then the trash until Yuuri had become such an anxious mess over his destruction of the house that he had refused to change at all.

Victor only wanted Yuuri to be happy, comfortable, in whatever form he chose to take.Their bedroom and bathroom remained upstairs, spiral stairs added for Victor to climb and a balcony for Yuuri to simply jump up to from the first floor. The ceilings are higher, the walls facing the city full of large windows to let the natural light spill in. Most mornings Yuuri stretches out with Makkachin, purring as he suns his scales in the warm light that falls across the cherrywood floors. It makes Victor smile, watching Yuuri’s tail flick lazily back and forth or snap at Makkachin when the two chased each other across the open first floor. They tumble around like two puppies, growling and snapping playfully at each other or tugging Makkachin’s toys between them. 

More and more Victor finds Yuuri lazing around as a dragon instead of as a person but he doesn’t mind, can’t mind when his fiance is so happy. Victor had wanted Yuuri’s trust and he’s finally earned it; there is nothing he will do to ever severe that bond again.

They’re just getting to the top of the stairs for the penthouse when Makkachin pulls up short next to Victor. Her lips pulling back exposing her teeth as a deep snarl rumbles through the normally calm dog. It startles Victor out of his musings and he stops next to her. Looking down at his dog Victors follows her line of sight toward their front door which is hanging open slightly and now that he’s paying attention there is a very distinct smell of burning coming from inside.

“Yuuri!” Victor cries and drops the pastries and coffee, rushing into their home. He stops short inside the front door, heart in his throat at the destruction that surrounds him.

The morning sun that Victor had just basked in minutes ago disappears behind a cloud, casting the room into shadow. The claw marks carved into the wood floor stand out, harsh and deep. Smoke drifts through the air in lazy little twirls, small fires eating away at the corner of their bookshelf, the couch, their trophy case. The fridge doors are cleaved almost completely off, shredded by sharp talons. The cabinets next to it are caved in, glass shattered all over the floor like something had been thrown into it.

Light spills back into the room as the clouds are blown away and Victor is faced with the bright red liquid that covers the kitchen floor.

Blood.

Blood and footprints the size of Yuuri’s feet.

“Yuuri!” Victor screams. He flips on his heel, sprinting upstairs to their bedroom.

The bedroom is worse somehow. The floors are charred black, the bed hardly anything more than twisted, melted metal and ash. Water pools in places while huge icicles hang from parts of the ceiling, dripping in a steady melt to the floor below.

Victor had thought that nothing could hurt them; not when a dragon lived under his roof but there are signs of a real struggle, blood all over the bedroom door. What could possibly be bold enough to attack a dragon?

Another dragon?

That’s the only thing Victor can think of; which is of absolutely no help to him because besides Yuuri and his family, he’s never seen another dragon in his life. He doesn’t even know if they exist in Russia.

This is so beyond his level of understanding. Victor can only stand in the middle of the mess, terrified tears dripping down his cheeks as he tries to figure out what he can do. He can’t really call the police, what would he even say?

_Hello, my boyfriend who also happens to be a dragon has been kidnapped and I don’t know what to do or where to start looking._

His heart is pounding painfully against his chest, every instinct in his body screaming at him to run from the obvious threat of danger but he’s rooted to the spot. He’s terrified beyond reason. He has no idea what’s happened to Yuuri; can’t even guess if he’s still alive. What if he isn’t still alive? Whomever attacked Yuuri might have killed him; Victor isn’t sure if that’s a thing that happens when dragons encounter one another. Why come after Yuuri of all people? Yuuri, the sweetest, most innocent and gentle creature Victor has ever met.

Finally Victor manages to think long enough to lift his hand and pull his phone out. His fingers shake so bad he’s hardly able to punch the name in but finally he’s able to dial the number and lift the phone to his ear.

“Mari.”

 

\---

 

Victor hardly gets a weak hello in before Mari has swept him to her side and is hurrying him and Makkachin out of the airport and to her tiny car. Makkachin hops into the back seat and curls up, Victor only wishes he could do the same thing. He’s so tired he can feel it deep inside the ache of his bones. Every movement is agony but worry and stress had refused to let him shut down to recover during the long flight from Russia to Japan.

“Thank you for picking us up,” Victor mumbles.

Mari’s face is tight, her eyes stormy as she focuses on the road. They aren’t particularly close, not like Victor is with Yuuri’s mother Hiroko, but he knows that Mari loves her brother and by extension, also loves him.

“I wouldn’t trust you having to take the train all the way to Hatsetsu by yourself,” Mari says. Her fingers clench on the steering wheel, knuckles white with the power of her grip. “I don’t know how much Yuuri’s bothered telling you.”

“Probably not a whole lot in the grand scheme of things.” Victor tries for a weak smile but clearly fails when Mari reaches out to pat his hand lightly.

“It’s okay, you’re safe now.”

Victor looks down at his lap. He’s safe. He doesn’t really care if _he’s_ safe. Yuuri is gone, taken from him. He’s probably hurt, maybe even dead with how much blood was on their floors. Who cares about him when Yuuri is out there somewhere?

Mari takes a slow and steady breath. “I know it’s a lot to take in and it isn’t really going to comfort you what I have to say but…”

“I want to hear it. Whatever I need to know, tell me.”

“Whoever attacked Yuuri wasn’t going after him, not really,” Mari says. “The only reason for one dragon to invade another dragon’s den like that is to steal its hoard, which is likely what it was after but you weren’t there.”

Victor’s stomach twists itself into a tight knot. “Then I-”

“This isn’t your fault Victor. You’re Yuuri’s most prized possession, a thief like that always goes for the most prized possession. They hoard them like bloody trophies. At least this way it’s more promising…”

“How?”

“Because if you had been there when that other dragon overpowered Yuuri, Yuuri would be dead.”

Victor swallows back the bile that threatens to push up his throat, the very idea of Yuuri being dead enough to make him sick. “So then why take him?” he whispers.

“Maybe as a lure. Probably as a consolation prize for not getting you.” Mari growls low in her throat and Victor is terrified she might slip and crash the car. He isn’t really sure that dragons can drive cars. “That’s why it was so important for you to leave as quickly as you did. If it came back for you then it wouldn’t have a reason to keep Yuuri around. You’re what its after.”

“Can we get him back?”

Mari glances at Victor again. “My parents are already looking into who it might be. I’ll go after them once we figure out who it is and where they nest.”

“I’m going with you.”

Mari snorts and she must have less control than Victor originally thought because a burst of steam fills the car and fogs the windshield for a moment. She swears softly, trying to wipe the glass clear so they don’t crash. “Absolutely not.”

“He’s my fiance. I am not going to just sit and do nothing!” Victor snaps.

“You’re…” Mari pauses, searching for a word.

Victor can feel his already tense shoulders winding up tighter. “You can say it,” he snarls. “I’m just a human.”

“I was going to say tiny.”

Victor glares at her. “Yuuri’s mine as much as I’m his. I’m not letting you leave me behind.”

“He’d hate if you went with,” Mari says but her shoulders slump and Victor knows she won’t argue with him about his decision anymore.

“I don’t care.”  
Mari bites off the start of a sigh. “You’re as bull headed as he is,” she mumbles. For a while they fall into an uneasy silence. “You should rest Vicchan, we have a while still before we’re home. You’re safe here and if you’re coming with me, I’m going to need you rested and ready to fight.”

Victor can’t ignore the logic, even if he feels like he’s never going to be able to sleep again. He leans back in his seat, forcing his eyes to stay shut. He wills himself to rest but it doesn’t really happen. He floats in an uneasy state between awareness and blissful unconsciousness until Mari is nudging him awake. Blinking open blurry eyes Victor is met with the familiar outline of the Katsuki home.

“Go take a soak in the springs. Mom and dad will have a meeting with us later tonight after the guests go to bed.” Mari shoulders Victor’s bag for him. “There isn’t much point in doing anything else until then. I’ll put your stuff in your room for you.”

Victor goes through the motions of changing and rinsing off. The waters of the onsen warm his weary muscles but do nothing to quell his mind. It hurts being here without Yuuri, where he’s completely surrounded by memories of how they grew close to one another, when they fell in love. He doesn’t soak for long, can’t handle the way his mind cries because his eyes can’t.

Yuuri’s bedroom is dark, the blinds pulled to shut out the light. Victor lays down in his fiance’s bed, curling around the other’s pillow. It still smells faintly of Yuuri, of frost and spices. The tears do come now and Victor sobs with exhaustion and fear, crying quietly until he falls into a painful sleep.

 

\---

 

“Wake up Victor.”

Victor’s eyes are sticky from dried tears when he pries them open to look up at Mari. She’s almost invisible with the deep dark of the night.

“Come on. We’re meeting about what we’re going to do.” Mari waits for him to get up, though Victor’s limbs are heavy from the exhaustion sleep couldn’t chase away. “Follow me, stay close since it’s dark.”

The inn is silent with the sleeping people that are visiting Hasetsu. When Victor had arrived the sleepy little town, with it’s slow days and quiet nights, had enticed him with how different everything was compared to St. Petersburg. Even with both of them moving back to Russia, this felt more like home to Victor now. Everyone here knew him, knew him for more than just being a famous figure skater. They cared about the Victor he had discovered after he met Yuuri, the man that could laugh and live and love freely without having to try to please someone. Yuuri had given him so many gifts, so many things that Victor’s life had lacked for years without him even really knowing that it was missing. Now Victor can’t imagine a life without these feelings, without Yuuri in it to make his life worth living.

“Stop getting all sniffly. The time for that is done,” Mari warns him as they make their way into the springs. They slip behind a gated area and down a set of stone stairs that Victor hasn’t ever seen before.

“Where are we going?”

“The family den.”

Victor isn’t sure why he’s surprised that a family of dragons have a cave, it just seems so cliche.

“Our family is old, this was where our great-great-great-grandparents resided. Back before dragons hid who and what they are. They were dangerous and something to be feared. We built the springs, Yu-topia, as a place for our family to live but also as a way to hide but still care for our town,” Mari says, clearly catching Victor’s expression in the darkened cavern.

“I guess I just wasn’t expecting a den to be so literal.”

“Just because Yuuri’s den is your apartment doesn't mean we all live so modern.”

The steps open up into a hall which twists and turns into a cavern. The sound of rushing water reaches Victor as the temperature rises and then the walls open up, jutting high above his head. There is a large steaming pool of water in the the middle, little rivers rush off in different directions, disappearing into the rockbed.

“This is what feeds the springs,” Mari explains, turning to look in a different direction.

Victor follows her gaze and pales. Slitted brown eyes look back at him, reflecting and glowing in the dim light of the cave. They stare for a moment before finally moving, the head lifting and Victor hasn’t ever really been terrified of Yuuri as a dragon before now but as the dragon approaches him, he knows why he should be. It’s huge, easily double the size of a horse. If it wanted, Victor would be dead with one misplaced step.

“Vicchan.”

Victor starts at the low rumbling noise of the nickname Hiroko has given him and he realizes that the large dragon in front of him is Yuuri’s mother, the sweet woman who has taken him in since he first arrived in Hatsetsu.

“Hiroko?”

The dragon grins, a terrifying thing with too many teeth showing, before he large head lowers and she nudges him lightly with her snout until Victor rubs at her scales. She’s warm unlike Yuuri and her scales are a beautiful seafoam green peppered with spots of blue. It’s not hard to see how she’s a dragon of water, every movement has her scales rippling like the crest of a wave as it rolls toward the shore.

Another dragon appears from behind Hiroko, smaller but still larger than any animal Victor has ever see. It’s a jet blue, almost black in the light of the cave. In deep water it’d be invisible, deadly and unseen. It’s Toshiya Victor realizes quickly. He continues to pet Hiroko’s snout, staring at the pair of dragons in front of him.

This is what Yuuri’s parents really look like, how they raised a small baby Yuuri dragon. The idea brings tears to Victor’s eyes.

“Don’t get emotional,” Mari reminds him, nudging him gently and he realizes she hasn’t changed, likely so he’ll feel comfortable in a den full of creatures that could easily kill him in hundreds of different ways. Victor is immensely grateful for the gesture.

“What are we going to do about Yuuri?” he asks because that’s the real reason they’re here and he can’t be distracted from that.

“A clan that resides in the Yamagata prefecture heard rumor that another clan was wiped out in recent years,” Toshiya says. His voice is a deep growl, so garbled Victor almost can’t understand him. “Their hoard went missing, their town was destroyed by natural disaster.”

Victor stumbles when Hiroko nudges him again, glancing toward the towering dragon until he realizes she’s trying to comfort him. Her own beloved son is missing and she still tries to comfort Victor first. With a pained exhale Victor leans into her, seeking warmth from her scales that emanate heat like the steam from the hot springs.

“Do you know where the dragon who did it resides?” Mari asks from besides him.

“Hawaii.”

Mari groans, rubbing her face. “Such a long flight.”

“Can you do it?” Victor asks, turning away from Hiroko’s warm comfort to look at her. The loss of warmth is immediate and Victor hugs his arms to his chest. “Can we get to him?”

“We?” Hiroko raises up, shaking her large head at Mari. “Vicchan stays here.”

“I already tried to talk him out of it.” Mari shrugs. “We can’t tell him what to do.”

Hiroko growls, steam flaring from her nostrils but she doesn’t comment further. Victor’s fingers dig into his crossed arms but he’s silently grateful he doesn’t have to argue against a giant dragon. He wouldn’t back down but it doesn’t really seem like a fight he could win when faced with how large and intimidating Hiroko is.

 

\---

 

“You’ll be good while I’m gone right Makka?” Victor whispers in the quiet dark of Yuuri’s bedroom. Makkachin whines in his arms, snuffling at Yuuri’s pillow clearly wondering where his other owner has disappeared to. “I’ll bring back our Yuuri, don’t worry.” Reassuring his dog seems childish but it makes Victor feel slightly better. It’s a promise he has to keep, he can’t allow Makkachin to be sad so his dog will hold him accountable if he fails.

“You should really sleep. We’re leaving soon,” Mari mumbles from the doorway.

“Do you really think I can sleep?” Victor doesn’t lift his face from where he’s pressed it against Makkachin’s soft fur. “You're not asleep either.”

“You’re right.” Mari puffs at her cigarette, the smoke trailing from between her lips crawls through the air toward them. “We don’t really know what we’re walking into once we find him Victor.”

“I know and I don’t care.”

“Just don’t get yourself killed. Yuuri would never survive losing you so the whole rescue thing would be pointless then.”

Victor really isn’t sure what to say to that, he’s taking on another dragon to get his fiance back. Whatever the outcome, as long as Yuuri is safe nothing matter beyond that.

 

\---

 

Victor has never been so happy to feel solid ground beneath his feet before. Eight hours of flying on Mari’s back, wrapped tight in several sweaters to keep him warm against the wind and the height they traveled at. She was smooth in her flying but Victor had lost his stomach back somewhere just outside of Japan and had never recovered it.

Mari slips along the rocky coast that they had landed on, the Hawaiian air much warmer than Japan and Victor quickly shed his extra layers. It’s dark, but they stay hidden among the trees on the edge of the island just to be safe. Mari drops her head, drinking from a deep pool of fresh water.

“Drink some,” Mari orders, not really looking at Victor. He’s still laying flat against the ground, shaking against their impromptu landing site.

Mari’s larger than Yuuri, her scales a beautiful bronze color. Her horns curl along her neck, hidden behind wispy tufts of fur and whiskers that run along her head, down her back and behind her legs. Victor had made an offhanded comment about it looking like a mustache and almost lost his hand under a sharp snap of jaws.

Victor comes over next to her, scooping water up to his lips to still the painful dry scratch in his throat flying had caused. “How do we find him?” Victor finally asks when he feels more like a human being again. The water drips down his chin and neck as Victor throws handfuls of water over his silver hair.

Mari’s claws curl into the soft earth beneath them, nostrils flaring. Victor watches, waits. The fear that they’ve come this far only for the search to go cold makes goosebumps raise under the droplets of water at Victor’s neck. “I’ll have to gather some information. There isn’t anything here that smells like Yuuri.” Mari nudges him back with a claw to his chest.

“How?” Victor asks but is ignored as she pushes her snout down into the clear water of the pool. He watches, confused as she breaths out, a sharp stream of bubbles following that shoot into the water in popping white little waves. “What are you doing?”

Mari growls at him, blowing again, longer this time so the stream of bubbles goes further. Clearly satisfied with whatever it is she’s done, Victor watches her slip into the pool. Her body submerges deep into the water, her scales reflecting the soft light of the moon until she looks like a golden statue from some lost civilization.

Victor has no idea what’s happening. All around Mari tiny and colorful fish swim about, moving in and out between her legs, rubbing along her whiskers and darting through her fur. It’s strange that fish would come near something that could eat them but maybe it’s similar to the fish that swim alongside great white sharks. Victor isn’t sure, he doesn’t really have anything else to reference in answer to what his fiance’s sister could possibly be doing. Especially when they’re supposed to be looking for Yuuri.

The dragon twists and turns in the clear blue water, the fish growing in number and color. Occasionally Mari will breath little streams of bubbles, ruffling through the group of fish and pushing them along on tiny waves. They bounce and bob in flashes of rainbow before zipping back to nestle between Mari’s whiskers and hid in her swaying fur.

Mari finally draws herself up the bank, shaking water off that splashes down onto Victor, soaking him again.

“What were you doing?” he demands, wiping water from his face with visible irritation.

“Asking the fish what they know.”

“What?” Victor stares at her.

Mari snorts warm steam at her scales, drying herself off. “I can communicate with aquatic animals. I hoard fish,” Mari says, turning her piercing eyes on Victor like she dares him to mock her.

Victor swallows. “What does that mean? How even?”

Mari shakes her fur out again, glancing back toward the pool where the small fish are still swimming back and forth near the edge of the pool, watching her. “I take care of the waters, clean it, give it nutrients, which cares for the fish and they in turn can give me information.”

“How?” Victor asks, confused. “Do they talk to you?”

Mari snorts, brushing her claws along her whiskers and fur. “They tell me things by rubbing up against these. Vibration type things,” Mari says.

Victor can tell she isn’t really into explaining so he lets it drop. “You know where Yuuri is?” he asks instead because that is the only important thing that matters right now.

Mari nods. “Yes.” She lowers herself enough that Victor can climb onto her back again. Her fur is soft under his fingers, still damp from the tropical water.

“How did they know?”

“Water is everywhere, it’s always carrying little messages about the environment and dangers. They listen, they know where to avoid because it will be dangerous to them. Up in one of the volcanic fields, it’s been a lot more active lately, smoke and ash polluting the water around that area. That sounds like our dragon to me.” Mari stands, making sure Victor won’t fall off before she jumps, pushing off the low trees until she can take flight in the air.

Victor watches the island pass beneath them, lights winking out in the houses and hotels there. Maybe once he would have wanted to visit here, to bring Yuuri with him so they could play in the sand and bask in the sun like any normal couple. Now it feels tainted, like Victor is going to turn a corner at any minute and find Yuuri lying in a pool of his own blood.

“It’s going to be warm in there,” Mari murmurs as she drops low, flying over the open ocean as they fly along cliff faces.

Victor can’t see what they’re aiming for as they move through the dark sky but Mari must because she brings them right up to a small opening in the rock that she sets down on. The rocks are warm under Victor’s palm, the tunnel dark and looming. “Yuuri is in here?”

“Yes, hopefully.” Mari scents the air again before carefully pushing forward. “Stay close, stay quiet, if I tell you to run you run Victor.”

He doesn’t argue, doesn’t do anything but nod because if that order comes and takes him further away from helping Yuuri, then Victor is going to do what he has to do to save his fiance.

The smell of the cave burns the inside of Victor’s nose and makes his eyes water. The air is hot in his lungs and sweat pools under his arms and along his forehead but Victor doesn’t complain, just follows Mari wherever she leads.

The walls open up, as they head deeper into the rock face. The heat rises around them until even Mari looks like she is glistening with sweat. Victor touches a wall and pulls back with a hiss as it burns his skin. “Fuck.”

“Shh,” Mari hisses and then pulls up short. The cave opens further, the ceilings rising in a sharp jump as the floor drops away. Below Victor can see small little pools of bubbling lava that have broken through the rock, the air suffocating with the heat that surrounds them.

There, among those little pools of lava is one black lump that isn’t the same as the black lumpy rocks around them.

“Yuuri.”

Mari’s gaze is locked on him as well, her nostrils flared and teeth bared in a fierce snarl.

“We have to get down to him, right now Mari!” Victor grabs her fur, yanking on it as he pushes himself up onto her back. “Go dammit.”

“Quiet Victor.” Her voice rumbles up through his legs, shaking Victor deep in his bones at the pain that he can feel from her words. Mari grips the rock under her claws before dropping down the sheer cliffside, fast enough that Victor can’t even pull breath into his lungs.

The closer they get the easier it is to see Yuuri, stretched out along the hot rockbed. His scales, normally a shining black are dull with ash and small burns. The lava bubbles around him, rising and popping every so often. The small splashes jump across onto Yuuri’s skin, sizzling and burning his scales. There is some sort of metal chain wrapped tight around Yuuri’s legs, that is buried in the rock, keeping him tight against the ground. The same metal binding is tight around his snout, locking his jaw shut. Yuuri’s eyes are closed, breathing shallow. He looks sickly, nothing like the strong and regal creature Victor has come to appreciate in the past few months.

Mari lands near, steps hesitant as her head swivels around. The cave is quiet outside of the normal sounds from the earth, no signs of any other dragon.

Victor has no hesitance in leaping off of her back and racing to his fiance’s side. “Yuuri,” he breaths, dropping next to him. “Yuuri, oh my god. Yuuri look at me, please, open your eyes. I’m here, I’m here,” Victor babbles, tears filling his eyes. His beautiful and strong fiance looks so weak and defeated here, body weeping with new wounds.

With an angry growl Victor reaches for the strap holding Yuuri’s mouth closed, trying to yank it off. The metal is hot under his hands and he pulls back with a startled yelp.

Yuuri’s eyes flutter at the sound before they open fully, focusing on Victor with slow recognition.

“Yuuri, baby, I’m here,” Victor says when Yurui jerks against his restraints painfully, jarring his muscles as he’s held fast. “Hold on, I’ll get you out of there. Somehow, just hold on a little bit longer.”

“You won’t be going anywhere little treasure.”

All three of them jerk at the new voice. Victor and Mari turn, lifting their heads until they find the speaker. The dragon stands in the entrance that Mari herself had used to get them inside the cave system.

The dragon looming above them is at least triple Yuuri’s size. His scales are a deep scarlet red, burning like the lava. Yellow eyes glower at them while a slow, terrifying smile is directed toward Victor that is nothing but jagged teeth. Huge wings open along it’s back, raising above it’s head in a full spread until it looks just as big as Toshiya. All of this dragon’s attention is focused on Victor and now Victor knows what true fear is, what it feels like to be helpless prey faced with demise from the predator in front of them.

“It was so kind of you to bring me my treasure. I was quite upset when I only ended up with this pathetic thing that tries to call itself a dragon. He was a poor substitute for the real thing.”

Mari steps in front of them, baring her fangs and snarling low until it bubbles out from between her clenched teeth. “You won’t be touching him or my brother again.”

The dragon laughs, voice echoing off the rocks and amplifying it until Victor wants to cover his ears. Without warning it lunges speeding down the rockwall toward Mari. It slams into her before she can react, a bone crushing sound coming from the bronze dragon.

Mari attempts to twist around, snap her jaws close on the red dragon’s throat but it’s larger, faster. It claws at Mari’s jaw, scratching deep along her snout. Mari snarls, trying to pull away but she can’t get a grip. Jaws close around the back of her neck, shaking her like a ragdoll before throwing Mari into the wall opposite. Victor watches her head connect with a soft crack against rock before she drops and stays still.

The dragon roars, the walls around them trembling with it’s power.

“Who are you?” Victor demands and those yellow eyes fall to him again until Victor quakes under the gaze.

“I’m Burakai, collector of hoards,” the dragon boasts. His wings spread, making him even larger as he stands over Victor. “And you are the most interesting of treasures. A living one, kept by such a pathetic dragon. I was very upset when you weren’t there, I almost ripped little Yuuri’s throat out when I found out you were gone but it seems keeping him alive brought you right to me.”

Under his trembling fingers Victor can feel Yuuri snarl, straining against his chains.

“I’m surprised your little treasure managed to track you down Yuuri.” Burakai looms over Victor, his red body shimmering like dancing flames in the low light. “It makes my collection that much sweeter now that you got to see him one last time before you die.”

Yuuri growls, ice forming along his clenched together jaw as he tries to breath mist but is unable. His head shakes back and forth, tugging uselessly against his restraints.

Victor takes a fearful step backward as Burakai approaches, flapping his huge wings. The hot air rushes past Victor and knocks him onto his back. He had wanted to do something so badly. Yuuri is so close now but Victor is nothing; he’s fragile and tiny compared to the monster in front of him. Mari is apparently down for the count, a trickle of blood seeping from the side of her head and Yuuri is so hurt, trapped so he can’t break free.

“What if I come with you willingly?” Victor asks, switching tactics. He takes a step forward, hoping he looks a lot bolder than he feels at the moment. “If I go with you, please don’t kill him.”

Burakai laughs, smoke spewing into the air. Victor’s lungs burn and he coughs, doubling over. “And why, little treasure, would I not kill him?” The red dragon lowers his head, breathing smoke directly into Victor’s face making him cough harder.

“Wouldn’t it hurt him more-” Victor shudders around a cough, lungs begging for the fresh outside air. “Wouldn’t it hurt him more if you took me and he had to live?”

Yuuri snarls beside Victor, his chains rattling as he fights harder. His brown eyes dart to the side to look at Victor then back to glare at Burakai. His claws dig into the hard stone of the floor, trying to strain forward.

Burakai seems to consider this, his head tilting as he watches Yuuri’s renewed struggles. It’s the most energy that Yuuri has shown in days and the display makes him grin in a way that has Victor’s stomach dropping even further out from under him. “You humans are such curious little creatures. You’re always doing things out of some misplaced sense of bravado.” With a puff, fire shoots at Victor and scorches the edges of the skin of his legs. “You are nothing compared to us, we are gods.”

“Please,” Victor begs softly. Nothing is worth forfeiting Yuuri’s life, even if it means giving up his own.

“Living treasures decay with time.” Burakai reaches forward, wrapping claws around Victor’s midsection. The heat of his scales burns at Victor’s skin and he cries out, half from terror half from pain. “I’ll enjoy dipping your living body in liquid gold before I kill your pathetic dragon.”

There is a furious screech from behind them and then Victor finds himself knocked down onto the ground, his palms scraping against the rock that his head bounces off of. Victor’s vision swims, black spots dancing across his sight as he scrambles into a sitting position.

Above him Yuuri towers hissing and spitting from behind his bound jaw. His claws are torn and bloody, two of them completely missing from his front foot from clawing the chains off of his legs. Victor feels ill, watching the blood pool under his feet and Yuuri’s chest heave with pained breath. Even with all of that, Yuuri still stands over him, protective and furious.

Yuuri’s brown eyes blaze and the air temperature plummets around Victor. The sound that rips from Yuuri’s chest vibrates through the space, hurting Victor’s ears and making his head pound. In a flurry Yuuri is lunging forward at Burakai. Despite the wounds that litter his body Yuuri is a blur of motion, shooting toward the larger dragon in an attempt to rip into his scales with his remaining claws.

The tenacious attack leaves Burakai snapping at air, Yuuri’s lithe body turning and twisting out of his way with terrifying speed. Blood drips down the red scales as Yuuri hits his mark before dancing away again. The other dragon’s snarls are interrupted by cries of pain until Yuuri slams into him with his entire body and Burakai is sent flying into the cave wall.

Dust rains down for a moment and Victor watches, waits because he’s too afraid to even breath. Yellow eyes appear from within the dust, the lava reflecting the piercing gaze that is locked right on Victor. A mouthful of teeth open and fire shoots from behind the dust cloud, barreling straight toward Victor with a roar that deafens him.

This is it, it’s over because there is no way Victor can survive the white hot fire stream that is coming toward him. He hopes at least it’s quick.

There is a prick of heat against his skin but it doesn’t burn like Victor thought it would; it doesn’t engulf him. Slowly Victor opens eyes he hadn’t realized had fallen shut in the face of his imminent death. In front of him is a thick layer of quickly melting ice, thick enough that it’s saved him from being consumed by flames. In front of that is his dragon, Yuuri being engulfed by the flames that were meant to kill Victor as Yuuri fights to keep Victor protected.

“Yuuri!” Victor screams. Above him Yuuri stands, unmoving. Steam and smoke curl off of Yuuri’s burned scales. Yuuri wobbles, his legs shaking to keep his body upright. There is a wet plop and Victor tears his gaze down to a glowing hunk of metal that lays in front of Yuuri’s feet.

Looking back up Victor watches the metal that had held Yuuri’s mouth shut, drip off of the scales of his snout, melting away from the intensity of the flames.

Yuuri turns his head slightly, giving Victor a quick once over to assure he survived the attack. Reassured that Victor is alive Yuuri turns back to Burakai, mouth dropping open in a hiss. Blue mist curls around his fangs, freezing the blood that runs from Yuuri’s mouth for it to shatter against the cave floor with soft little pings.

Victor watches the muscles in his legs bunch before Yuuri leaps forward, shooting through the air to slam into the larger dragon a second time. Burakai is caught off guard with the intensity of the attack, not quick enough to defend as Yuuri’s jaws snap around the other dragon’s throat. The tender flesh inside Yuuri’s mouth burns with the assault to the fiery hot scales but he doesn’t relent, simply clamps down tighter.

Victor watches, horrified with Burakai’s pained bellows as Yuuri pulls in breath, that mist drawing inward and concentrating before Yuuri exhales a sharp blast. The mist solidifies in the cold breath, the ice shooting straight through the tough scales, puncturing the other dragon throat as he screams and struggles. Burakai is unable to pull away, trapped by Yuuri’s claws digging into the rockwall to keep the dragon pinned. The ice shoots through Burakai’s throat and out the other side, splattering the rock with blood the color of his body. With a final show of force Yuuri drags Burakai’s body through the air and slams him down into the rock, following with his own body slamming into the other dragon with a sickening crack, claws shredding the tender flesh of his underbelly.

His chest is still, those yellow eyes lifeless. Victor knows he’s dead.

Yuuri howls in triumph standing over the other dragon. His chest heaves from the exertion and pain he’s in but even that doesn’t stop Yuuri from whipping back around to face Victor. He takes several steps toward the trembling man before collapsing to the ground.

Victor breaks from his trance of terror and jolts forward. “Yuuri,” he sobs. His hands hover over the injured body of his fiance; he’s terrified to even touch. “Yuuri. Yuuri get up,” Victor begs, carefully lifting Yuuri’s head into his lap. Tears drip down Victor’s cheeks, landing against the dull scales, charred from their brilliant black into something twisted and rotten. “Please, you can’t leave me.”

Yuuri cracks open one eye finally, letting out a shuddering breath. It puffs against Victor’s hand, chilling his skin and making Victor choke on another sob, this one full of relief. “Yuuri.”

Yuuri noses at Victor’s palm, wincing some as Victor’s fingers brush the terrible burn that crosses his snout.

“Hurt?” Yuuri breaths his question, eyes slipping closed again.

“No, no I’m okay.” Victor shakes his head back and forth, tears falling harder down his cheeks. “You idiot, asking me if I’m okay when you’re so banged up.”

Yuuri’s only response is a soft rumbling cough, the vibrations tickling Victor’s thigh.

“We have to get out of here…” Victor looks around desperately. “Wait here my love.” Victor lifts Yuuri’s head, carefully laying it back down against the warm rocks. Yuuri doesn’t move, hardly breaths that he’s heard Victor.

“Mari!” Victor runs to the older dragon, running his fingers along her head looking for any serious wounds. “Mari you have to get up. Please I don’t know what to do. Mari!”

Steam blows out around Victor’s legs as Mari shifts, groaning loudly. Her eyes finally flicker open and she lifts up some. “Victor,” she says, voice a deep rumble.

“Please get up Mari,” Victor begs, pushing her face up until she’s blinking at him. “We have to get Yuuri home, he’s hurt.”

His words seem to spur her on and she pushes up to her feet, stumbling. Victor tries to hold her up as much as he can but she’s larger than Yuuri is. His legs buckle and he stumbles back to his knees.

“Where is he?”

“Over there.” Victor nudges them forward until Mari gets her bearings and focuses right in on her little brother.

Mari growls, nudging her snout against Yuuri’s as she nears the wounded dragon. “What happened?”

“He protected me…” Victor mumbles. His heart swells at the overwhelming love he feels for his fiance, the length that Yuuri went to so that Victor wouldn’t die. “He killed Burakai.”

“Yuuri.” Mari nuzzles him. He leans into the touch slightly, head tilting up toward hers. “Yuuri you’re going to have to change so that Victor can hold onto you,” she says.

“Can you fly?” Victor moves back to Yuuri’s side, watching Yuuri struggle to lift himself. Victor puts a hand under him, helping the other up. Yuuri shivers, trying to change but failing. He leans back into Victor’s side, panting. His scales are flushed with warmth under Victor’s touch, unusual enough to spark fear up his spine.

“I don’t have much of a choice.” Mari looks over at the body of the dead dragon. “You’re going to need to lift and hold onto him.”

Victor nods, carefully wrapping his arms around Yuuri’s neck and torso. Yuuri whines but doesn’t fight against Victor’s touch, he simply curls his bloodied claws into Victor’s shoulders as he tries to stay still. Yuuri’s heavy, lifting the lithe form of solid muscle strains against Victor’s new cuts and bruises as he carefully crawls his way onto Mari’s back.

She flies them up to the cave opening, pushing herself forward. Her claws bounce off the rocks several times, scrambling to give herself enough purchase to push them off and higher up.

The air outside is cool in Victor’s lungs when they finally burst free, the sun already rising into the pink morning sky. “I’ve got you,” Victor breaths, rubbing at Yuuri’s filthy fur. His fingers come back covered with black soot and traces of red blood.

“We’ll stop for water and some rest before making the trip,” Mari says.

They land near the little pool from hours ago. Immediately Mari slips into the water, submerging as she swims into the deeper waters and for the moment, out of Victor’s sight. He doesn’t mind, simply pulls his shirt off and pushes it into the pool.

Wringing it out several times doesn’t get rid of the stains but he figures it’s clean enough to use so Victor soaks it again. He presses the cloth over the harsh burn on Yuuri’s snout. “Sorry,” Victor says when Yuuri let’s out a pained hiss. The last thing he wants to do is hurt his lover but the grime clinging to the burn will cause infection to set in if Victor leaves it.

Brown eyes flutter open at the aggravating pain but he doesn’t move away, just lays in the soft grass, watching Victor.

“Here, you need to drink.” Victor moves back and forth from the pool, cupping his hands and giving Yuuri drink after cooling drink.

“You came to find me.”

“Of course.” Victor settles down in the grass, pressing his back against a tree trunk. With as much care as he can, Victor moves Yuuri until he can lay partially in his lap. Whenever the towel starts to dry out, Victor leans over to dunk it back into the pool before replacing it over the burn. It seems to help after a while, the pained fog lifting some from Yuuri’s gaze.

“You’re an idiot.”

Victor smiles. “Yes, but I’m your idiot.”

 

\---

 

Their flight back home is torturous. Flying over the ocean gives Mari no place to rest and they’re all weary. Yuuri’s still too weak to hold any form other than his own. Victor’s arms remain locked around Yuuri’s scaly body, clutching Mari’s fur in a death grip so neither of them tumble down to their deaths. Yuuri’s claws grip his sister as best as he’s able, struggling to stay awake.

“I’ve got you, you’re safe,” Victor whispers the entire trip. His arms fall asleep on either side of Yuuri’s body but he doesn’t move. The burns along Yuuri’s muzzle and side look even more painful in the light of day, his scales blistering where the metal had almost completely melted them off. Victor isn’t sure how they can fix Yuuri up; he’s fairly certain there isn’t a hospital for dragons that treat third degree burns.

“You’re going to have to change Yuuri,” Mari mumbles when they finally land near their home hours later. She’s already dropping down among the trees, hiding them away from sleepy town prying eyes. “Just until we get somewhere safe.”

Yuuri slips from Mari’s back, crumbling immediately when his feet make contact with the ground.

Victor’s arms shoot out, cradling Yuuri against his chest. “I’ll carry you,” he whispers, kissing the crown of Yuuri’s head. The scales are cooler against his lips now, the heat from before having faded some. Victor wants nothing more than to kiss Yuuri’s beautiful black scales for the rest of his life. “I’ll carry you home but you’ve got to change for me, hold it for just a little while my love. Okay?”

Yuuri whines and his eyes remain shut but he shivers in Victor’s arms until Victor is holding a very human looking Yuuri. The burns are even worse looking against his pale skin, charred black and red, blistering along the edges. It makes Victor’s stomach churn in a tight ball, threatening to make him throw up but Yuuri is the one that is hurt, not him. He needs to be strong for his fiance; it becomes the running mantra in his head as he hefts Yuuri up into his arms bridal style. Yuuri let’s his head fall to Victor’s shoulder, a chilled breath escaping his lips to tickle Victor’s throat and spread goosebumps all along his skin. That at least calms Victor enough to walk steady. His own limbs are exhausted as well but ignoring it gets a little bit easier with every step toward true safety.

They walk through the woods as quickly as they’re able. The only thing Victor can really focus on are the pained pants that fall between Yuuri’s lips with every exhale.

“Come through the back,” Mari says.

It’s oddly quiet in Yu-topia. Normally even at this hour there would still be customers hanging around the main dining area, drinking and relaxing for the evening but Victor doesn’t see anyone as they walk past.

“Where are we going?” Victor asks when they pass by Yuuri’s room and out into the back.

“The den.”

Yuuri groans as they go inside, following the same path that Mari had taken Victor down before. In his arms Yuuri’s body ripples, shivering harder as he struggles to keep his human form from slipping.

Victor’s heart clenches painfully with guilt.

The stop by the large steaming pool that Victor hadn’t paid much attention to the last time he had been down with the Katsuki family.

“This spring filters into all of the other hot springs,” Mari explains. “It’s what my family protect, my parents own treasure. It has healing properties, it’s the most potent here at it’s source. You need to bring Yuuri into the water.” Mari’s form is already rippling, changing as she becomes a dragon once more. She slips into the spring herself, spraying the water from her nostrils at the warm and relaxing feeling.

“Okay,” Victor breaths. He doesn’t bother with removing his clothes, simply kicks off his shoes and slips himself and Yuuri into the water. Yuuri hisses in his arms, practically exploding out of his human form.

The water is hotter than it is in the onsen, likely because they’re so much closer to the source so deep underground Victor reasons. His skin pinkins along his arms, up his neck and across his cheeks until they’re a deep red with each inhale of warm air.

Yuuri stills as the water surrounds and cradles him, laying his head against Victor’s shoulder.

Victor cards his fingers slowly through the dark fur along Yuuri’s back. He rubs at the soft strands, dragging the dirt and grime of captivity away with each swipe. Turning his head, Victor buries his nose in it, breathing in the clean scent. It tickles his nose and upper lip until he’s smiling, breathing out a quiet but happy laugh. He’s so grateful to have Yuuri back in his arms, safe and home where he belongs. All of his own aches and pains fall away, none of them matter anymore. All Victor needs is Yuuri, all he ever wants is Yuuri.

“That tickles,” Yuuri mumbles, his throaty growling ripples through Victor’s chest with them pressed so close together.

“I’m sorry.” Victor presses his nose further into the fur, kissing the scales hidden just below. “I was just so scared I was going to lose you.”

“I’m a dragon, we’re rather hard to kill.” Yuuri grumbles but doesn’t lift his head, doesn’t open his eyes and the stillness in his limbs argues the loudest against his words.

It doesn’t matter, Victor knows it had been too close. There was a very real chance that he could have lost this, lost Yuuri. Nevermind his own life. “Are you going to be okay?” Victor breaths as that reality of what he could have lost finally sets in. It’s a stupid question but that fear fills him, settles deep down inside of his bones. It burns itself into his soul. He’ll never forget this feeling, at being so helpless that he can do nothing to save the man he loves.

“I’ll be okay.”

“I’m sorry,” Victor repeats. His fingers tremble though Victor tries not to grip Yuuri too tightly for fear of hurting the dragon more. “I’m so sorry Yuuri.”

“None of this was your fault.” For the first time since getting him free Yuuri raises his head fully until Victor is forced to look into slitted brown eyes. They glare at him but it does nothing to hide how tired Yuuri looks how tired he is. “This is my fault. If I hadn’t of kept you… if I had…” Yuuri snarls in frustration, shaking his head back and forth. Already Victor can see tears forming. “You were in danger because of me. I never should have claimed you as mine.”

“There is no one would rather belong than to you. I don’t care about the danger. I’m yours.” Victor brushes the tears away. They’re cold against his fingers, starting to freeze against Yuuri’s scales. It’s a good sign and Victor kisses Yuuri’s snout gently. “I love you. Nothing would be worth not having this.”

Yuuri lets out a shaky sigh, the cold air blowing Victor’s silver hair back.

“I want nothing more than to be your treasure.”

Yuuri lays his head back down, sniffling into Victor’s neck. “I’ll be better for you. No one will ever hurt you again,” he whispers fiercely.

“I know. My beautiful dragon.” Victor kisses at Yuuri’s scales again before he settles back to rest, closing his eyes as he holds Yuuri close to his chest. “I won’t let anyone hurt you either,” Victor says, a silent vow he plans to never break. Heaven help whoever tries.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this, thank you for reading. Leave me a comment, they make my day!
> 
> My tumblr is [here](http://tothebatcave53.tumblr.com/) if you ever want to drop by and talk Yuri on Ice. Or throw writing prompts at me, I'm always looking for new things to write for this fandom. I do nothing else with my free time now it seems.


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